1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method for bead seating a tubeless tire onto a rim and an apparatus for the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
While tubeless tires provide significant advantages over the tube-type, it is extremely difficult to seat the bead of the tire on the rim. This difficulty creates a special problem when trying to change a tire on the road, far from the customary equipment used to seat the tire.
One solution to the problem had been the introduction of ether inside the tire which was then ignited. The resulting explosion often was sufficient to seat the tire. Of course, determining the precise amount of ether necessary to seat the tire without potential injury to the operator was next to impossible. Therefore, this method was quickly abandoned.
A class of such tools, which are best described as mechanical, although they may include some pneumatic elements, rely on the use of flexible straps or segmented hoops which squeeze along the circumference of the tire and thereby force the bead upward toward the bead seating surface. These mechanical devices are not conducive to being portable and require a substantial amount of time in the preparation of the equipment prior to the inflation process. Also, the more difficult truck tires to seat could not be seated with such devices.
Another class of such tools, which are best described as pneumatic, although they employ some non-pneumatic elements, utilize a source of compressed air to impart momentum to the bead and inject air into the tire, thereby initiating a progressive bead seating process. While these devices are an improvement over the above-described methods and apparatus, the use of a valve to release a stored supply of compressed air adversely affects the rise time of the pulse of air, thereby limiting the effectiveness of the device.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,866,654, issued to Duquesne, discloses a device for inflating tubeless tires that utilizes a single source of compressed air which directly supplies an injection nozzle and a valve for controlling the air flow. The Duequesne device requires the tire to be inflated in a fixed location, where the supply of compressed air is located. This apparatus cannot be used to seat the bead of tubeless tire on the road. Also, the distance from compressor to injection nozzle is relatively long and the use of a mechanical valve located in the path effects the energy of the compressed air that is used in the bead seating process.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,072,764, issued to Ochoa, discloses a bead seating apparatus that utilizes a hand operated valve, preferably a ball-type valve to release a charge of air from a storage tank. The valve is located in a conduit which is in the path that the charge of air must travel to the tire. Since it takes time for the ball valve to be moved from the fully closed to the fully opened position, the rise time of the pulse of air is substantially retarded, thus reducing the effectiveness of the apparatus. Also, this device features a nozzle that is fashioned from the conduit which introduces additional resistance into the system.
An improvement on the Ochoa device is a bead seating apparatus manufactured by the Bead Seater Corporation. This device features a tank, a ball-type valve and a conduit as disclosed by Ochoa. However, the Bead Seater apparatus provides a fan-shaped nozzle having a radius that is dimensioned to correspond to the rim of the tire. While the nozzle improves performance over the Ochoa device, this device is still limited by the use of the ball-type valve and the conduit.
A portable bead seating apparatus that eliminates the need for a conduit with valve thus producing a pulse of air having a substantially faster pressure rise time is not found in the prior art.